'BJP misleading people about J&K'

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying the saffron party's leadership was misleading people about J&K as it was ignorant of the ground realities in the state.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying the saffron party's leadership was misleading people about J&K as it was ignorant of the ground realities in the state.

Abdullah, who addressed an election rally at Vijaypur, criticised the BJP for promising to ask the Bollywood to resume shooting films in the Valley. He said this statement depicted the "total lack of knowledge" of the BJP about the ground situation in the state as the film industry resumed shooting films in the Valley five years ago.

Abdullah also said the BJP's statement about the number of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir was misleading. He sought to inform the BJP leadership that the number of yatris to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine crossed the one crore figure yearly during his tenure.

He also said more than 50 lakh tourists visited the valley annually for the last five years, which, he said, is a record so far in last 25 years.

The chief minister said his party, the National Conference, is not doing politics based on religion, region or development like the BJP does. "We do not create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, and do not do politics on the issues of development and public good," he said.

Abdullah also ridiculed the BJP for making false statements on development process. He said it was his government which provided scores of mega projects to Jammu including building of flyovers, bridges, the gondola, an artificial lake besides sewage and drainage disposal systems and power generation schemes.

The chief minister castigated the coalition partner Congress and its leadership for attempting to take credit for all the good work done by the NC-led government in the state. He said the Congress was shifting blame for its own shortcomings and failures on the NC.